skype

The Ethiopian government has just made it a criminal offense to use VoIP services within the country such as Skype and Google Talk. Anyone caught using VoIP service can now spend 15 years in prison. Ethiopia passed the new law last month, and it's only just now becoming known outside of the country.

Skype has launched a new, OS X Mountain Lion ready version of its VoIP and video calling app for Mac, with improved screen sharing but no mention of Retina Display readiness. Skype 5.8 for Mac now allows premium subscribers to see both video calling and screen sharing simultaneously, "so that you can see the reaction of the person or people you're sharing with" (perfect for those shock & awe PowerPoint sessions).

Skype has today introduced “Conversation Ads”, commercials and features that will appear during Skype to Skype audio calls. The ads currently appear for those making audio only calls who don’t have any Skype credit and have no subscriptions to the service. The company says that ads will be targeted in such a way that will help promote discussion while on a Skype call.

Microsoft seems to be finally starting to leverage Skype in a more intelligent way. The company is reportedly offering OEMs the opportunity to pre-install Skype on Windows PCs. The new OEM preinstallation kit allows Skype 5.8 to be silently installed on Windows 7. If OEMs choose that option, it would significantly bolster the number of users for the VOIP platform.

Microsoft bought Skype in May last year for the large sum of $8.5 billion, but not much has come of the acquisition so far. A Skype application has made the jump to Windows Phone, which was met with mixed reactions, but so far the VOIP service hasn’t found its way into Microsoft’s ecosystem. Skype is said to be coming for the Xbox 360, but the crucial detail is when. Turns out you may not see it until next year.

The Nokia Lumia 800 and 900 have made some waves across Europe and the United States, but one area that the Finnish smartphone manufacturer is keen to attack is the low-end of the market. Microsoft opened up Windows Phone to devices with lower specifications, prompting phones like the Lumia 610 with an 800Mhz processor and only 256MB of RAM to play with. Looks like Skype isn’t the only app having problems with the meagre amount of memory.

While we obviously still haven't heard anything official about Microsoft's next-generation video game console, there has been no shortage of tips and insider leaks to point to rumors about what to expect. The latest comes from a job listing on Microsoft's official careers website. It suggests that Skype will be an integral part of the next Xbox.

Comcast has added new features to its Xfinity Voice service. The new features will put the service in a better position to compete with Google Voice and Skype. One of the new features is called Voice 2go and allows users to make phone calls and send text messages from their home phone number at no cost over any available Wi-Fi network.

Microsoft’s latest update to Windows Phone, Tango, allowed phones running lower hardware specifications to run on the platform. The Nokia Lumia 610 is one such phone, but is the strategy backfiring already? Nokia has told users has told users that the Skype experience on the Lumia 610 isn’t up to par, and in the future the app won’t be available for download from the Windows Marketplace for that particular model.